TCBL Days 2021

Beyond Bla Bla Bla: is circular fashion really possible?

Streaming on YouTube and Facebook

We'll be looking at some of the critical issues regarding the circular economy concept and its application to the fashion sector today. Given the significant social and environmental impacts of the industry as it currently stands, is there any hope for becoming really sustainable? What new approaches to design, technology and business models are going to be required?
Moderated by Jesse Marsh.

TCBL Chair Jesse Marsh will describe the urgent issues facing the T&C sector, how the industry is having difficulty meeting stated targets and commitments, and how TCBL aims to build alternative value chains to meet the challenge.

Mark Shayler, a consultant in innovation and sustainabiliy, will be giving a live report from COP 26 in Glasgow, focusing on the different power struggles going on regarding the transition towards the circular economy.

Becky Early then gives a view on how we can design for circular fashion, using seven 'shirt stories' to show that it can really be done.

Finally, Cecilia Raspanti looks at how art, technology and society can come together to show us a new vision for the future, and how the Fabricademy initiative is providing a different space for innovative fashion design.

To follow, a roundtable chat with the speakers, addressing any questions and comments from the audience.

Make in Slovenia

Streaming on YouTube and Facebook

The opening event in Ljubljana (SI) will be hosted by Petra Grmek Green of the TCBL Lab Make in Slovenia, a state-of-the-art laboratory working in sustainable fashion in Slovenia. Petra will present a vlog-style tour of innovative T&C companies in Ljubljana where green and circular are consistent keywords.

Jam Session 1

This first Jam Session features:

• Alexia Tronel with Itinérance (FR): co-creating committed initiatives in craft around the Mediterranean
• Takis Lybereas and the Athens Textile and Clothing Design Lab in Athens (GR): offering open services from training to sourcing
• Clea Polar and Coco&Rico (FR): slow fashion manufacturing and services in Paris

Jams are TCBL Members-only networking sessions composed of elevator-pitch-length presentations by labs or associates who wish to share new work and ideas, followed by a brief discussion and break-out room opportunities for connection. Jesse Marsh will open the session, and the speakers will immediately be given the floor for 5 minutes each. Stick around for breakout rooms to chat directly with them!

TCBL Info Session

Jesse Marsh, Chair, presents the TCBL Association, describes how you can renew your membership or become a new member, and answers any questions about the organisation.

Creativity and innovation for sustainability

How can we harness collective creativity to reframe the way we think about clothes? Viewpoints on interpreting tradition, digital technologies, rural communities, and community advocacy.

Creative approaches to giving longevity to traditional textile skills in a sustainable way

Hosted by Passa Ao Futuro at the 3rd floor in collaboration with Arteria Lab of the University of Evora, the discussion will focus on strategies and difficulties in bringing Portuguese textile artisans and the textile markets closer together in a holistically sustainable way (social, environmental, economic).
Bringing together people from different backgrounds who are working in Portugal and interested in supporting the traditional textile crafts in several areas, from documentation, to the creation of new pieces and upcycling. The speakers span the worlds of fashion, interior design, architecture, non-profit activism and academic research.

Jam Session 2a

This first round of the Jam Session 2 features:

• Charles and Anne Reboux of RBX Créations (FR): new sustainable materials with hemp & flax cellulose
• Maja Cebej of Beti (SI): new, recycled and sustainable yarns
• Florence Bost of Sable Chaud (FR): integrating new technologies with textiles and other soft materials

Jams are TCBL Members-only networking sessions composed of elevator-pitch-length presentations by labs or associates who wish to share new work and ideas, followed by a brief discussion and break-out room opportunities for connection. Jesse Marsh will open the session, and the speakers will immediately be given the floor for 5 minutes each. Stick around for breakout rooms to chat directly with them!

Jam Session 2b

This second round of the Jam Session 2 features:

• Luca Leonardi of ARCA (IT): entrepreneurship for social and technological innovation
• Susan Rainton of the Future Fashion Factory at the University of Leeds (UK)
• Caterina Ailiesei of Katty Fashion (RO): development, prototyping and production of all categories of womenswear

Jams are TCBL Members-only networking sessions composed of elevator-pitch-length presentations by labs or associates who wish to share new work and ideas, followed by a brief discussion and break-out room opportunities for connection. Jesse Marsh will open the session, and the speakers will immediately be given the floor for 5 minutes each. Stick around for breakout rooms to chat directly with them!

TCBL Info Session

Jesse Marsh, Chair, presents the TCBL Association, describes how you can renew your membership or become a new member, and answers any questions about the organisation.

Local ecosystems for the circular transformation.

Sessions in French with simultaneous translation into English.

Following a brief introduction of TCBL by Jesse Marsh, Minister Willy Borsus opens with a presentation of the Walloon ambitions for circular textiles. Giulietta d'Ugo further develops the circular economy deployment strategy in the Walloon Region, Circular Wallonia. Particular attention will be paid to the specific role of the 'textile' value chain and how the strategy can stimulate and support local initiatives and entrepreneurs in the sector.
Following a presentation of the Herewear project by Lien van der Shueren and Guy Buyle, we'll have a tour through the Circuit sustainable shopping mall and learn about the team at Wallonie, a group which guides companies and designers to integrate the principles of the circular economy into the design of products and services.
Finally, Pierre Van Timpont discusses the RETEX project, which investigated the technical and economic viability of recycling end-of-life garments and industrial polyester-cotton waste.

Recycling and reuse

Hosted by the TCBL Lab Centexbel offices in Wallonia, three pitches from firms with differently sustainable business models, followed by a panel discussion with Wallonie Design and Ressources, a collector of second hand clothing. This is a case study of local production scenarios explored in the H2020 Herewear project, empowering local, circular and bio-based textiles.

Jam Session 3a

This first round of Jam Session 3 features

• Sabine Giron of ESTIA, the Institute of Advanced Industrial Technologies in Bidart (FR)
• Georgios Priniotakis of the University of West Attica (EL)
• Caterina Ailiesei of Reginnova NE (RO): Innovation, Technological Transfer, Human Resources and Community Support

Jams are TCBL Members-only networking sessions composed of elevator-pitch-length presentations by labs or associates who wish to share new work and ideas, followed by a brief discussion and break-out room opportunities for connection. Jesse Marsh will open the session, and the speakers will immediately be given the floor for 5 minutes each. Stick around for breakout rooms to chat directly with them!

Jam Session 3b

This final round of Jam Session 3 features

• Elvys Sandu and Andreea Spataru of REDU (RO): providing alternatives to unsustainable fashion
• Henri de Kergorlay of Urban Circus (FR): technical clothing for urban mobility
• Anastasia Pistofidou of FabTextiles (ES): Fabricademy, a transdisciplinary course blending technology and textiles.

Jams are TCBL Members-only networking sessions composed of elevator-pitch-length presentations by labs or associates who wish to share new work and ideas, followed by a brief discussion and break-out room opportunities for connection. Jesse Marsh will open the session, and the speakers will immediately be given the floor for 5 minutes each. Stick around for breakout rooms to chat directly with them!

Bridging the gender gap through innovation

How women are bringing technical, social and business model innovation to the T&C sector and the impact on the role of women within the industry and beyond. Frédérique Thureay of TCBL will first give an overview of the EU-funded shemakes.eu project, while Kerstin Junge of the Tavistock Institute will present the project's gender vision for innovation in fashion. Fiori Zafeiropoulou, coordinator of Fashion Revolution Greece and founder of the Social Fashion Factory, will discuss the opportunities being created for women victims of violence and human traficking. Finally Suzy Shepherd, of the Future Fashion Factory at the University of Leeds, will look at the prospects for women in the context of Industry 4.0.

Women weaving the future of textiles in Barcelona

Streaming from Fab Lab Barcelona inside IAAC, an inspirational round table that showcases local women’s practises at the intersection between craft, textile making, upcycling and entrepreneurship. By fostering dialogue amongst these diverse women, we enter into the intimacy of creative processes, capture the essence of their work, discuss how they perceive and feel about gender gaps, and ask them to define their own ingredients that can open up and feed their practices and build a sense of community.

Speakers include Roberta Lebed of circular brand Infinit Denim, Edith Canales of local sewing collective Xarxa de Dones Cosidores, Anastasia Pistofidou in her role as Materials and Textiles lead at Fab Lab Barcelona and Jessica Guy, in her role leading the Make Works community at Fab Lab Barcelona, and Alicia Roselló Gené, Founder of Duduá, Festivalet and Talleres nomadas.

Moderated by Marion Real, Systems Designer at Fab Lab Barcelona.